I have read where others have talked about "panic mode" braking but have not experienced this myself. When testing the brakes in the past I have never pressed the pedal hard enough, or moved my foot fast enough from accelerator to brake, to engage the panic mode. Yesterday on my return commute on a highway with one lane closed for construction, and with cars bumper to bumper in one lane at 55-60 mph, some guy in a truck decides at the last possible moment that he is going to make a left-hand turn at the next median crossover. So he hits his brakes and dives through the caution barrels to make his exit. The guy right in front of me panics and slams on his brakes forcing me to do the same. I hit my brakes and was really not prepared for how quickly the car stopped. It felt like I stopped as quickly as possible just before the tires could skid. It was smooth and straight, albeit very quickly I did not come close to the guy in front of me due to the quick stopping. The woman behind me was driving a big Chrysler 300 and when she hit her brakes she had to swerve to the shoulder of the road to keep from hitting me. Glad she reacted quickly enough to make that avoidance maneuver since she evidently wasn't able to stop as quickly as I did.
I've done it a couple times in the GenII and once in my GenIII. Even with the little 15" tires the car stops shockingly fast.
Great brake success stories jdcollins5. Both you and the Chrysler 300 driver were using the 3 S's; Stomp on the brake, Stay on the brake, Steer to avoid collision.
Mine stops relatively quickly, though the transition to friction brakes towards the end is quite noticeable and clunky. Oh, and I slide a bit towards the end - I blame F8L...as it is due to the poor traction of these Energy Saver A/S tires.
They performed decently compared to other tires in the class. Tire Test Results : When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green
Thanks God. All of you did good and avoid accident. Continue to enjoy the good ride. Stay alert, anyway.
Most 2010 and later Prius test drives (Road and Track, Edmunds, etc.) report "good" braking in terms of control and stopping distance. These tests are typically from 60mph to 0mph, so the braking would be all hydraulic or at least dominated by the hydraulics. But OP seemed to have been expecting some deficiency prior to his/her actual panic stop?
The OP (me) was not expecting some deficiency. I was just surprised as to how quickly the car stopped. I had read about others on here describing the panic mode stop but just was not expecting just how quickly and how smoothly it did respond.
I have found after renting Toyota's for the past 3 years is all of them have wicked strong brakes. Mike
So, does the Prius have anti-lock brakes, or something like them, to keep the wheels from locking up when you're making a panic stop? I know the braking system is different from most cars.
I have had to slam my brakes twice now. Surprised both times just how quickly this car will stop, and is the reason whatever vehicles I will have in the future must have 4 wheel disk brakes.
My car history to date is a Dodge Dynasty, Ford Escort, Ford Taurus x3. They all had very mushy breaks, except the Escort you had to pump the breaks every so often to build pressure.
